Drawings lose extents if published?

Hey guys, I have something I just can't figure out for the life of me. Was hoping that the Cad Guru's around here could help me out.

Using Full Autocad 2013, no extensions.

I have a directory full of 25 drawings, P&ID's to be exact. I've done all the drafting on them, and I need to publish the set. I used to publish them 24x36 to our plotter, but we have started sending out large plot jobs, so I need to publish to PDF. This normally isn't a problem at all. I set up the first drawing's layout tab to print. Everything is good. Preview it, all is good.

I open the publish box, add all the drawings layouts, use the page setup from the first drawings layout, select publish to PDF, set them to go to my normal folder, and publish. The drawings all publish, and everything is correct except that they all, instead of centering on the page, they center horizontally but go to the bottom of the sheet vertically. So I have a two inch margin on the top of the drawing and .5 inch or so on the bottom. I'm assuming this means that the publish can't find the drawing extents (we use plot to extents, center plot). So I go into all the drawings, zoom extents in all the layouts, and still it publishes the same.

Is there a variable I'm missing? If I plot just one it works and the plot is dead center of the page, publish more than one and it doesn't work.

Any help is appreciated.

I've had mixed results trying to use a page set up for plotting to PDF. Using the PDF option within publisher gives consistent results. Just use your normal page set ups for full size plots and verify that the PDF settings are correct and you should be good to go.

On a side note, using plot to extents does not guarantee that your plots will always be to scale. You may have your layouts set up so that plotting to extents gives you the proper scale but why not guarantee that you plots are correct by assigning a scale of 1:1 for a full size plot.

I've had mixed results trying to use a page set up for plotting to PDF. Using the PDF option within publisher gives consistent results. Just use your normal page set ups for full size plots and verify that the PDF settings are correct and you should be good to go.

 

On a side note, using plot to extents does not guarantee that your plots will always be to scale. You may have your layouts set up so that plotting to extents gives you the proper scale but why not guarantee that you plots are correct by assigning a scale of 1:1 for a full size plot.

I've always gotten great results using the PDF option inside publisher. We do it all the time with very few problems. It's just these drawings that seem to be giving me fits.

As for the 1:1 thing, I agree with you, anytime I get to set up how it's done that's how I prefer it to be done, but these are hundreds of existing drawings where the view port is setup 24x36 and I have to plot them 18x24 (I have no idea why, that's what they want). If it wasn't for that that's what I'd do. Besides, they are P&ID's so the plant isn't concerned with scale as long as the page size is correct and centered.

As for now I have just created a page setup that prints to layout rather than extents, and prints with a certain offset and a certain scale so that it works on 95% of the drawings. The rest I guess I will make work to this page setup until they all conform so that we can continue with this page setup. It does get the page centered for me.

But any ideas are still welcome. I think the problem has something to do with the drawing having the extents set. I go into the drawing, and it gives me the no extents or can't find extents error, I zoom extents, plot it, then if I close it and open back up, it says no extents again.

If you use the PDF option in publisher, there isn't a need to create a page set up for PDFs. It will use the current page set-up for each layout. In fact, I think it ignores any override you put in the list. I can't verify that right now.

I don't understand why people will settle for something that seems correct when there is an option to guarantee proper output. Sometimes you need a hammer to pound something into there thick heads in order to get them to change there mind.

I've never heard of that not finding extents error. Probably because I do not use "plot to extents". Can you post one of those errant drawings? You can strip out any proprietary or design information that shouldn't be shared.

Might be able to later today. If I can't do that at the very least I'll get a screen shot of the error.

And I don't create a page setup just for PDF's. I create one that plots to our local plotter as 18x24, then publish to pdf in publisher.

It's not the error itself that I am interested in, it's what is causing the error. I'd like to try figure out why AutoCAD can't find the extents.

It's not the error itself that I am interested in, it's what is causing the error. I'd like to try figure out why AutoCAD can't find the extents.

Yea, I'll put up a copy. Autocad will find extents, cause if I zoom extents and plot, it plots to extents fine, but then if you close out it loses them or if you go to publish them they don't plot correctly.

Some hotshot at our office has managed to put a (no plot) frame around our border/title block x-ref that works very well for 24x36 pdf's. We use the frame as a Window, plot the Window, instead of extents or layout, center the plot and they remain to scale even. Not sure what the relationship is between the paper size, printable area, and that frame, but it works. Not using layout for scale drawings bothers me, but I don't run the place. Our dwt already has predefined "named" page layouts for pdf's, so I don't really have to think about it. If the company ever shakes the cobwebs off the top of their money pile and replaces the aging plotter, we will probably have to replace all the xref-ed title block dwg's to match new drivers.

The pdf drivers always seem to offset the plot in one direction or another unless you plot something that will allow the centering option.

I've always gotten great results using the PDF option inside publisher. We do it all the time with very few problems. It's just these drawings that seem to be giving me fits.

 

As for the 1:1 thing, I agree with you, anytime I get to set up how it's done that's how I prefer it to be done, but these are hundreds of existing drawings where the view port is setup 24x36 and I have to plot them 18x24 (I have no idea why, that's what they want). If it wasn't for that that's what I'd do. Besides, they are P&ID's so the plant isn't concerned with scale as long as the page size is correct and centered.

 

As for now I have just created a page setup that prints to layout rather than extents, and prints with a certain offset and a certain scale so that it works on 95% of the drawings. The rest I guess I will make work to this page setup until they all conform so that we can continue with this page setup. It does get the page centered for me.

 

But any ideas are still welcome. I think the problem has something to do with the drawing having the extents set. I go into the drawing, and it gives me the no extents or can't find extents error, I zoom extents, plot it, then if I close it and open back up, it says no extents again.

Maybe to save paper which means money save ??????